Representative British Orations Volume 4 (of 4): With Introductions and Explanatory Notes
History
Representative British Orations Volume 4 (of 4): With Introductions and Explanatory Notes
Speeches, addresses, etc., English
Well, then, however, did we, in the application of that force, either
depart from established usage, or do anything that was unnecessarily
pressing on the innocent and unoffending population of Greece? I say
the innocent and unoffending population, because it was against the
Government, and not against the nation, that our claim for redress was
directed. The courses that may be pursued in cases where wrong is done
by one Government towards the subjects of another are various. One is
what is commonly called “reprisals”; that is, the seizing something of
value, and holding it in deposit until your demands are complied with;
or, if you fail in that and don’t choose to resort to other methods,
applying that which you have seized, as a compensation for the wrong
sustained. That is one method. Another is the modified application
of war--such as a blockade--a measure frequently adopted by the
governments of maritime states when they demand redress for injuries.
Last come actual hostilities. Many instances of such measures have
been quoted in this debate as having been adopted by the governments
of other countries, especially by the French Government, when they
have had a demand to make for injuries sustained by their subjects;
and, by the by, when people complain of the peremptory manner in
which our demand was made, and the shortness of the time allowed for
consideration, I wish to call to the recollection of the Honorable
Gentlemen what was done by the French squadron no longer ago than 1848.
There was an insurrection at Naples, in May, 1848. The great street
of the town was filled with barricades, and the troops had to force
those barricades. To do that, they were obliged to occupy the houses
right and left, in order to turn those defences; and as they forced
one house after another, and passed on from house to house, they
neglected to leave any guards behind them. They were followed by the
Lazzaroni,[13] and the houses were plundered. Some French people
whose shops were thus rifled, complained to the French Minister, and
to the French Admiral--there being then a French squadron before the
port at Naples. The French Admiral, Admiral Baudin, quite cut out Sir
W. Parker, and being applied to by those French citizens, he sails
up the bay, lays his ships broadside to, in front of the palace, and
writes a note to the Government to say, that he has been called on by
his countrymen to protect them; and he adds--that letter being dated
half-past one on the 17th of May--that unless by three o’clock of that
very day he obtains a satisfactory assurance--a satisfactory assurance
that his countrymen shall be efficiently protected, reserving, he says,
for future discussion their claims for compensation--but--
“Unless in one hour and a half I get, on board this ship, a
satisfactory assurance that they shall be efficiently protected, I
shall land the crews of my fleet, and will take care of them myself.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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